Conventionally, liquid foods such as milk and soft drinks are contained and sold in a packaging container made of a packaging material which is fabricated by coating the inner and outer surfaces of a paper substrate with a polyethylene resin or the like.
Examples of such a packaging container include a gable-top type packaging container having a sloped top, and a brick-type packaging container having a flat top. Liquid food contained in a packaging container which has a small capacity such that a purchaser can consume the food at one time is generally sold at a store or by an automatic vending machine, and is frequently consumed at the place where the food is purchased. Accordingly, a film package containing a straw is usually adhered to each packaging container for sale.
Also, in the sale of semi-hard foods such as yogurt and frozen deserts contained in packaging containers, a film package containing a spoon made of a resin is usually adhered to each packaging container.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional packaging container, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a conventional straw package.
As shown in these drawings, a package for a stick-like article, for example, a straw package 55 is adhered to a side surface of a packaging container 11. A purchaser of a food placed in the packaging container 11 removes the straw package 55 from the packaging container 11, and takes out a straw 56 from the straw package 55. The straw package 55 is composed of a first film 14 and a second film 13 which are joined together at their peripheral edges by heat sealing. The first film 14 has a bulging portion 14a and flat portions 14b. The second film 13 is joined to the first film 14 by heat sealing to enclose the straw 56 in the bulging portion 14a in a sealed manner.
A plurality of straw packages 55 are first manufactured as an unillustrated straw ladder. Each straw package 55 cut away from the straw ladder is pressed against the packaging container 11 and is adhered thereto by heat fusion. Numeral 57 denotes joint portions at which the straw package 55 is adhered to the packaging container 11.
Next, a conventional straw applicator will be described.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged view showing a heat-fusing section of a conventional straw applicator.
In FIG. 3, numeral 55 denotes a straw package which has been cut from an unillustrated straw ladder, and numeral 56 denotes a straw enclosed in the straw package 55. Numeral 61 denotes a heating section while numeral 62a denotes a depression which is formed in the forward end (the left-hand end in FIG. 3) of the heating section 61 at its center so as to allow a bulging portion 14a to enter there.
The heating section 61 holds the straw package 55 while receiving the bulging portion 14a in the depression 62a, and adheres the straw package 55 to the packaging container 11 (FIG. 1). To this end, two pairs of heaters 63 are provided at positions corresponding to the flat portions 14b (one pair of heaters is shown in FIG. 3).
The conventional package for a stick-like article, however, has the drawback that it is difficult to insert the fingers between the straw package 55 and the packaging container 11, because the straw package 55 is affixed to the packaging container 11 by pressing the flat portions 14b against the packaging container 11 using the two pairs of heaters 63. This makes it difficult to remove the straw package 55 from the packaging container 11.
In addition, when the straw package 55 is adhered to the packaging container 11, in order to prevent the straw 56 from deforming or chemically transforming due to heat, the width of the flat portions 14b must be large enough to prevent the heat of the heaters 63 from reaching the straw 56. Therefore, the width of the straw package 55 becomes large, resulting in an increase in the consumption of the first and second films 14 and 13, and increasing costs.
Similar problems occur when an unillustrated spoon package is adhered to the packaging container 11 in the above-described manner. That is, it becomes difficult to remove the spoon package from the packaging container 11. Also, since the width of the spoon package becomes large, the amount of film required increases, leading to an increase in costs.
An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems of conventional packages for stick-like articles, and to provide a package for a stick-like article which is easily removed from a packaging container, which requires a reduced amount of film, and which reduces costs.